​Tobacco Program

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The goals of the Kane County Health Department Tobacco Program are to:

Prevent youth from smoking

Reduce secondhand smoke exposure

Promote smoking cessation

Tobacco Use

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death within the United States, causing nearly 1 in 5 deaths. Not only are smokers more likely than non-smokers to develop stroke, heart disease and lung cancer, but smoking also causes diminished overall health, more absenteeism from work, and higher health care costs and utilization. (CDC)

Electronic Cigarettes

There are many different types of electronic cigarettes and e-cigarettes can be referred to by many different names. With all of the new products and terms people may be confused by what these products are. The bottom line is that e-cigarettes are not safe for youth, young adults, and pregnantwomen to use.

Since e-cigarettes are fairly new, scientists are still unsure about the long-term health effects. What is known though is that most e-cigarettes contain nicotine which is highly addictive, can harm adolescent brain development until the mid-20s, and be toxic to developing fetuses. Other potential dangers of e-cigarette use include potential harmful substances found in e-cigarette aerosol (including cancer causing chemicals), and unintended injuries such as fires and explosions from defective e-cigarette batteries (CDC).

In December 2018, the U.S. Surgeon General declared youth e-cigarette use an epidemic and stated that youth e-cigarette use has skyrocketed in the past year (HHS).